This is an archived article and the information in the article may be outdated. Please look at the time stamp on the story to see when it was last updated.

Please enable Javascript to watch this video

SALT LAKE CITY — Northern Utah dams have been placed on "flood mode" and volunteers filled sandbags at the Salt Lake County Public Works as Utah prepares for a higher than average spring runoff.

Mark Anderson, assistant general manager with the Weber Basin Water Conservancy District, spoke with FOX 13 about switching the dams' status.

"For the last seven years we've been in drought mode, so we've shut the gates and tried to store as much water as we have water rights to store," Anderson said. "Where, this year we have routes through thousands of acre-feet of water to make sure to make sure we still have space when the highest volumes of snowmelt at the runoff stage."

Anderson operates five large northern Utah dams.

He said flood mode means they have made room in the dams to keep them below half full to prepare for the higher than usual run-off.

"So that we have a big enough hole space available in our reservoirs, so we can route those flood waters through safely without causing property damage."